The world is currently experiencing revolutionary changes in communications systems, brought about, in part, by the general availability of access to, and evolution of, wireless telephony systems. It has been predicted that wireless telephony will eventually replace much of the existing wireline telephony systems; the period during which that will occur, however, is likely to be a function of the ability of wireless telephony systems to provide the features that subscribers have come to expect from wireline systems.
The proliferation of wireless telephony devices has been accompanied by the advent of mobile, or "notebook," computers and many other electronic devices, many of which have become virtually indispensable to certain persons. For example, traveling sales people can create a multimedia presentation on an office computer and then present it to prospective customers using a laptop computer. Such presentations can also be projected onto a large screen using a portable video projector.
Another useful electronic tool is a "laser pointer." Conventional laser pointers are housed in a pen-like device. Although such conventional laser pointers are easily transported, they are also subject to being easily lost or forgotten. One attempt to solve this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,639, issued to Hsien-Jung Hwang (the '639 Patent), incorporated herein by reference. In the '639 Patent, a laser pointer is integrated with a watch; the patentee therein states that a user may readily carry the laser pointer without it being lost or forgotten. Although the laser pointer disclosed in the '639 Patent may be less likely to be lost or forgotten, the placement of the laser pointer on the wrist of a user may render the pointer difficult to use. Moreover, if the laser pointer is strapped to a user's wrist, it cannot be easily shared with others.
Conventional laser pointers are powered by batteries, which may or may not be rechargeable. For environmental reasons, it is preferable to use rechargeable batteries. Because the broad range of today's electronic devices use so many different types and sizes of batteries, however, it is impractical to transport special recharging devices for each type of battery a user might have. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the number of recharging devices needed by users of various electronic devices.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a laser pointer that is not easily forgotten or lost, that can be easily shared with others, and which eliminates the need for a special recharging device.